The only weekly electronic newsletter published for Professional Horsemen.

October 6, 2007

If you are struggling with finding enough time, enough
money and enough of the right people in your horse
business, then it may be time to get some help.
If you are looking for different results in your
horse business, we should have a conversation about
how Profitable Horseman strategies can help. (716)
434-5371

Routine and repetition are the foundation of most
businesses including the horse business. You do
many of the same things day after day and month after
month in your operation. Routine feeding, watering
and mucking are a sure thing. Trimming or shoeing,
routine veterinary work and routine training or exercise
programs are givens.

Boarders, students and training clients are also part
of your familiar daily routine. And there is nothing
wrong with this. Steady work is steady cash flow. That
translates into money to pay operating expenses, put
food on the table and make the mortgage payment.
Conventional wisdom supports the "steady as she
goes" theory of business management.

Routine, however, can be the enemy of financial
growth. When you are caught in a cycle of doing what
you've always done, you keep getting the same
results, both good and bad.
As an example, a full barn provides a blend of good
and bad results for your business. Some horses are
money makers, others are break even and worse,
others are losers.

Aristotle may have proclaimed, "Nature abhors a
vacuum", but experience in the horse business
suggests to me that Aristotle should have added
"Nature also abhors an empty horse stall." An
empty stall has a magical way of filling itself in a short
period of time. Barns are full of horses just because,
well, there is a place to put them. Sometimes the
stalls are filled with horses that should be living
elsewhere.

Your "elsewhere list" might include

Lesson horses who have earned retirement rights
and an easier lifestyle.

Horses owned by chronically delinquent
boarders.

Horses you own that can't physically perform at the
level you expected.

Broodmares difficult to get in foal.

Ill tempered horses who don't like where they
are.

Is a full barn a good thing or a bad thing then?

It's a good thing if your barn is full of ideal
horses. It's a bad thing if it closes the door for
the greater opportunity to find you. What's a
greater opportunity?

A horse with potential or admirable past
performance that you can "buy right" due to the seller's
circumstances and need to sell now.

A new client who needs a bundle of
services like board, lessons and training

A new client looking for you to train, polish and
market a horse for a commissioned sale.

Greater opportunities often materialize at times
when
we least expect them. Have you ever had one
more
horse than you have had stalls for and have
opportunity kicking at your barn door?

Followers of the Law of Attraction will tell you
that
opportunities don't appear until you're ready to receive
them. If you're looking for greater opportunities and
the No Vacancy sign is always lit at your barn,
don't expect to attract fortune to drive in your
driveway honking the horn.

Make room for more business opportunities to appear
by relocating horses that should be housed
elsewhere. It's good business to strive toward
maximizing your income stream with more sales from
the resources you have on hand.

Whether
your
business is the size of Wal*Mart or a Lemonade
Stand, use your time, money and business
assets to
your full advantage.

"Most are engaged in business the greater part of
their lives, because the soul abhors a vacuum and
they have not discovered any continuous employment
for man's nobler faculties." -- Henry David Thoreau

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he
finds." -- Sir Francis Bacon

"The young have aspirations that never come to pass,
the old have reminiscences of what never
happened." -- Saki

Back at the Barn

If you're self employed, you know the value of investing
in your own professional education and professional
growth. There is so much to keep informed about
and so little time to absorb it all. Squeezing in reading
time a few days a week helps, but distractions abound
and it's difficult to focus on new material.

I dedicated time last week to attend a half day seminar
in Syracuse, NY presented by a well known business
consultant. His horse knowledge may be limited to
identification of which end to feed and which end to
shovel from, but his wisdom and knowledge of
operating a consulting business his world class.

I traveled with a consultant friend who got the same
outstanding value as I did from attending - information
worth tens of thousands of dollars over a career. The
greatest expense of attending professional training is
usually not the admission fee, but rather the
opportunity cost of being away from the business for a
day or two.

Considering the value of the information we got, the
opportunity cost to our own businesses and the
admission fee were lost in the giant shadow of the
information value delivered.

Education is a lifelong process. I'm seldom
disappointed with the value received for my
investment in acquiring knowledge. There is
always something for people of every age to
learn, with the exception of eighteen year old
males, of
course.

Forgive me for reminiscing back that far, but if I only
knew now what I knew then. . . . . .

Are You Looking For A Better Strategy for Your Business?

I work with Professional Horsemen who are
struggling
with the business half of the horse
business.

Just like a top performing horse has a strong
foundation, so does a top performing horse
business.

If you've had enough with
not enough: time, money or the right people in your
horse business give me a call and we can talk about
how Profitalbe Horseman strategies can help you.

Welcome to new subscribers this
week. If you know other horsemen who would enjoy
this
newsletter, please forward it to them!